Can alloethism in workers of the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, be explained in terms of foraging efficiency?

2002 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Goulson ◽  
James Peat ◽  
Jane C. Stout ◽  
James Tucker ◽  
Ben Darvill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Foraging Efficiency

Displacement of Tasmanian native megachilid bees by the recently introduced bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera : Apidae)

1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. McQuillan ◽  
Andrew B. Hingston
Keyword(s):  
Exotic Species ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Limited Resource ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Native Bees ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
The Impact

The assertion that the recently introduced large earth bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, does not compete with other bees was investigated by examining the impact of B. terrestris on the foraging of two species of Chalicodoma(Megachilidae) on flowers of Gompholobium huegelii (Fabaceae). Chalicodoma spp. spent less time at each flower during the afternoon in quadrats where B. terrestris foraged than at quadrats from which B. terrestriswas excluded, indicating that standing crops of nectar were depleted by B. terrestris during the course of the day. This decline in resources was associated with reductions in the numbers of flowers visited, and the amount of time spent foraging, by Chalicodoma spp. It is proposed that the native bees avoided foraging in the quadrat where B. terrestris occurred as a response to reduced foraging efficiency in that situation. Thus, B. terrestris displaced these two species of Chalicodoma through competition for a limited resource. The high densities at which B. terrestris occurred, together with its ability to forage at lower ambient temperatures than the native bees, exacerbated the impact of this exotic species. The possibility that this will adversely affect pollination in G. huegelii is also discussed.

scholarly journals Ecology dictates the value of memory for foraging bees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Pull ◽  
Irina Petkova ◽  
Cecylia Watrobska ◽  
Grégoire Pasquier ◽  
Marta Perez Fernandez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Ecological Selection ◽  
Cognitive Trait

Summary“Ecological intelligence” hypotheses posit that the benefits of cognitive investment vary with foraging ecology, and provide a key framework for understanding the evolution of animal learning and memory1–4. However, although certain ecological selection pressures have been found to correlate with brain or neural region size5–8, empirical evidence to show that any specific cognitive trait is useful in certain environments but not others is currently lacking. Here, we assay the short-term memory of bumblebee (Bombus terrestris audax) workers from 25 identically reared colonies, before allowing each colony to forage in a landscape where forage availability varies seasonally. Through analysis of the bees’ lifetime foraging careers, comprising >1700 foraging trips over two years, we show that performance on a task designed to test short-term memory predicts individual foraging efficiency – a fitness proxy that is key to colony reproductive output – in plentiful spring foraging conditions. However, this relationship is reversed during the summer floral dearth, when the costs of cognitive investment may outweigh the benefits. Our results provide evidence that the value of a cognitive trait depends upon the prevailing ecological conditions and suggest that temporal changes in that environment could place contrasting selection pressures on memory within a single species.

scholarly journals Pesticide exposure affects flight dynamics and reduces flight endurance in bumblebees

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Kenna ◽  
Hazel Cooley ◽  
Ilaria Pretelli ◽  
Ana Ramos Rodrigues ◽  
Steve D. Gill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Pesticide Exposure ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Insect Pollinator ◽  
Exposed Workers ◽  
Flight Mills ◽  
Summary Statement

AbstractThe emergence of agricultural land use change creates a number of challenges that insect pollinators, such as eusocial bees, must overcome. Resultant fragmentation and loss of suitable foraging habitats, combined with pesticide exposure, may increase demands on foraging, specifically the ability to reach resources under such stress. Understanding the effect that pesticides have on flight performance is therefore vital if we are to assess colony success in these changing landscapes. Neonicotinoids are one of the most widely used classes of pesticide across the globe, and exposure to bees has been associated with reduced foraging efficiency and homing ability. One explanation for these effects could be that elements of flight are being affected, but apart from a couple of studies on the honeybee, this has scarcely been tested. Here we used flight mills to investigate how exposure to a field realistic (10ppb) acute dose of imidacloprid affected flight performance of a wild insect pollinator - the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris audax. Intriguingly, intial observations showed exposed workers flew at a significantly higher velocity over the first ¾ km of flight. This apparent hyperactivity, however, may have a cost as exposed workers showed reduced flight distance and duration to around a third of what control workers were capable of achieving. Given that bumblebees are central place foragers, impairment to flight endurance could translate to a decline in potential forage area, decreasing the abundance, diversity and nutritional quality of available food, whilst potentially diminishing pollination service capabilities.Summary StatementAcute neonicotinoid exposure impaired flight endurance and affected velocity of Bombus terrestris workers, which may dramatically reduce colony foraging potential and pollination provision in pesticide applied landscapes.

scholarly journals Monitoring bee health in European agro-ecosystems using wing morphology and fat bodies

One Ecosystem ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryse Vanderplanck ◽  
Denis Michez ◽  
Matthias Albrecht ◽  
Eleanor Attridge ◽  
Aurélie Babin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Fat Body ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Sampling Site ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
Wing Morphology ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Fat Bodies

Current global change substantially threatens pollinators, which directly impacts the pollination services underpinning the stability, structure and functioning of ecosystems. Amongst these threats, many synergistic drivers, such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, increasing use of agrochemicals, decreasing resource diversity, as well as climate change, are known to affect wild and managed bees. Therefore, reliable indicators for pollinator sensitivity to such threats are needed. Biological traits, such as phenotype (e.g. shape, size and asymmetry) and storage reserves (e.g. fat body size), are important pollinator traits linked to reproductive success, immunity, resilience and foraging efficiency and, therefore, could serve as valuable markers of bee health and pollination service potential. This data paper contains an extensive dataset of wing morphology and fat body content for the European honeybee (Apis mellifera) and the buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) sampled at 128 sites across eight European countries in landscape gradients dominated by two major bee-pollinated crops (apple and oilseed rape), before and after focal crop bloom and potential pesticide exposure. The dataset also includes environmental metrics of each sampling site, namely landscape structure and pesticide use. The data offer the opportunity to test whether variation in the phenotype and fat bodies of bees is structured by environmental factors and drivers of global change. Overall, the dataset provides valuable information to identify which environmental threats predominantly contribute to the modification of these traits.

Thermoregulation dynamics in commercially reared colonies of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
Enya Wynants ◽  
Nancy Lenaerts ◽  
Felix Wäckers ◽  
Annette Van Oystaeyen
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris
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